Are there any games that have made you feel guilty?

[Hatta]

No. I can't get involved enough in fiction to actually care.

[noiseredux]

Shadow Of The Colossus. That huge flying worm creature. I felt awful.

Oh, definitely. for me, every Colossus that fell came with a twinge of regret. I've never exactly figured out why that is though. Is it their majestic size and aged bodies? Is it the fact that you are killing some of the only life along this lonely landscape? Is it because you are killing them only out of your own self interest? Shadow of the Colossus is really brilliant in this way. I'm not sure why I felt such empathy and respect for the colussus creatures, but I did, and I was always a little bit disappointed in my character for slaying them, while simultaneously being impressed that such a small man could topple such ancient giants.

yeah that's what was so amazing -- you felt triumph, especially after some of the longer battles, but it was so bittersweet. I don't know if you read my blog post JT where I kept a journal while playing it for the first time? But there were a few where I was like "oh I kind of felt bad killing that one," like the bull-looking one that backs away from you in fear when you have fire for instance. But it wasn't until that flying one where I was just like "I feel terrible. Why am I doing this?"

[Czernobog]

Nier on the PS3. Once you beat the game, you can start a second playthrough from the halfway point that adds cutscenes/previously unheard dialogue, etc. which show you events from other perspectives using the information you discovered during the end of the game. The end game section already does some significant work to make you feel guilty but the next playthrough has scenes that some would actually call heart-wrenching. It's a little disturbing, but pretty well pulled-off.

[J T]

yeah that's what was so amazing -- you felt triumph, especially after some of the longer battles, but it was so bittersweet. I don't know if you read my blog post JT where I kept a journal while playing it for the first time? But there were a few where I was like "oh I kind of felt bad killing that one," like the bull-looking one that backs away from you in fear when you have fire for instance. But it wasn't until that flying one where I was just like "I feel terrible. Why am I doing this?"

Was it on your blog or the thread you posted on the forums here? I followed your thread. Bittersweet is the perfect word for it. It's also interesting how Wander's physical characteristics become subtly more demonic with each colossus he slays. I didn't even realize it until about 3/4 into the game, and then I was like "am I turning evil? Oh. I've done bad things. This girl better be worth it." Then (without giving it away) all the guilt over slaying colossi made the ending all the more dramatic.

[noiseredux]

yeah that's what was so amazing -- you felt triumph, especially after some of the longer battles, but it was so bittersweet. I don't know if you read my blog post JT where I kept a journal while playing it for the first time? But there were a few where I was like "oh I kind of felt bad killing that one," like the bull-looking one that backs away from you in fear when you have fire for instance. But it wasn't until that flying one where I was just like "I feel terrible. Why am I doing this?"

Was it on your blog or the thread you posted on the forums here? I followed your thread. Bittersweet is the perfect word for it. It's also interesting how Wander's physical characteristics become subtly more demonic with each colossus he slays. I didn't even realize it until about 3/4 into the game, and then I was like "am I turning evil? Oh. I've done bad things. This girl better be worth it." Then (without giving it away) all the guilt over slaying colossi made the ending all the more dramatic.

the thread was compiled into a blog post: http://www.rfgeneration.com/blogs/noise ... s-1638.php

[Bradtemple87]

Shadow Of The Colossus. That huge flying worm creature. I felt awful.

I killed so many beautiful creatures

[J T]

It's funny how many games also alleviate our guilt. One of the first things that jumped to mind when I made this topic was Grand Theft Auto III. I remember when I first played it, the world felt so real that I even felt bad running red lights. I felt awful when I ran over my first pedestrian. But the game is all about crime without consequences. It's a world where it's only wrong if you get caught. After a few hours of playing though, I never even noticed red lights and it no longer occurred to me to stop for pedestrians if I had to get somewhere. It was actually liberating to spend time in the game world because I just didn't have to care about people. I only had to care about doing whatever I want. Maybe I should feel guilty for that, but I make a clear distinction between what I do in games and what I do in real life. And perhaps I enjoyed GTAIII because I am a nice guy in real life with a strong sense of personal ethics. GTAIII let me do things I would never do and rewarded me for breaking all social rules in the service of self satisfaction.

The one thing that does make me feel bad about GTAIII was the way it engendered a general misanthropy for people, largely through the things people say on the street. Every one in Libery City is some obnoxious stereotype of a person. They don't really interact with you, they just emit stereotypical phrases. I felt like the game wanted me to take a prejudiced view against the people around me, which may have been to make it easier to not care about them, but this kind of mindset can make it easy to not care about people in general, even outside the game. That is the one thing that I felt was truly irresponsible about GTAIII- the way they encouraged misanthropy in the player to feel detached from humanity by making you feel that everyone fits some negative stereotype.

[alienjesus]

The flying worm creature was the worst because it never actually attacked you. It just flew about.

The one that backed off from the fire and the bird that didnt attack until you shot it like a dick were also ones I regretted.

[noiseredux]

The flying worm creature was the worst because it never actually attacked you. It just flew about.

that was the worst part for me. It just flew around looking majestic. And you'd attack it and it just seemed so innocent.

[Bradtemple87]

The flying worm creature was the worst because it never actually attacked you. It just flew about.

that was the worst part for me. It just flew around looking majestic. And you'd attack it and it just seemed so innocent.

But man were the last two out for blood, that's when I stopped feeling sorry for those giants.